Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 73 continued ... continued ... No. 87 Squadron had been stationed and engaged in daytime combat flying operations in France before the evacuation of the British Forces and again in England during the Battle of Britain. By the time I arrived at the squadron it had been assigned to No. 10 Fighter Group, Fighter Command and given a new role; Night Fighter Squadron Offensive Activities. No.10 Fight Group’s role was the defense of London and South East England. For the Squadron it was a quiet time in comparison to what had gone on before and on reflection it was a time to rest and regroup with new personnel, including pilots. When I arrived at the squadron the pilots numbered one Canadian, two Poles (a Flying Officer and a Flight Sergeant) who had fought in Poland and then escaped to England, one Czechoslovakian with similar experience and one New Zealander, one Flight Lieutenant from the African Gold Coast who was my Flight Commander an Australian and others from England, Scotland and Ireland. The UK pilots if I remember correctly, were all members of the RAF Volunteer Reserve who held ranks of Pilot Officer (P/O), Flying Officer (F/O), Flight Lieutenant (F/Lt), Warrant Officer (WO.), Flight Sergeant (F/Sgt), and Sergeant (Sgt). They were gentlemen, every one, and as a Canadian I was accepted as an equal, not as a Colonial. We were soon joined by two more Sergeant Pilot Canadians and an Australian who had just completed OTU training. Altogether we were about 18 or 20 pilots divided into two flights, “A” and “B”. I remember that soon after arriving at the squadron we had a visit from HRH The Duke of Kent and to make a reasonable showing after he had visited “A” Flight some of our pilots were hurriedly transported in the opposite direction around the airport perimeter to form up with “B’ Flight. After being issued with my parachute and other flying gear and reporting at “A” Flight I was ready to start my Hurricane night flying training. The Squadron was equipped with Hurricane IIC aeroplanes. This mark had new slightly modified wings mounting four 20 mm Hispano cannons, two in each wing. The wings also included a “hard point” where long range fuel tanks could be added. They were powered by a single Rolls-Royce Merlin XX liquid-cooled V -12 engine producing 1,185 hp at 6,400 rpm. There were no dual Hurricanes so it was a case of reviewing cockpit procedure, getting in the aeroplane and flying circuits and landings. Soon after reporting to the flight and making three short daytime flights totaling 2 hours, 10 minutes I was ready for my first night take off and landing. The procedure was to take off at dusk and fly circuits (take offs and landings) until after darkness had settled in. I checked out night solo in a Hurricane IIC. One night soon after my solo I was scheduled for night flying practice. When darkness came there was no serviceable aeroplane for me to fly. F/O Chivers, an English pilot who was on stand by duty offered to let me fly his Hurricane which had just been released from the maintenance hangar and needing a test flight. The squadron was required, if possible, to keep a complement of 12 aeroplanes serviceable for duty and normally these were allocated to the 12 most experienced pilots regardless of rank held. The less experienced pilots like me would fly any other serviceable planes. This turned out to be a sad introduction to my night flying operations. F/O Chivers proceeded with the check flight. On take off the plane’s engine failed and he died in the crash. My squadron flying training continued. It consisted of ground controlled interceptions, air to sea firings (gun firing practice), cross country flight map reading; night time search light cooperation and Havoc aeroplane formation (co-ops). My map reading ability was simply hopeless. The cross country training I had received in Canada did not prepare me for finding my way over the English country side with its many, many roads, villages, lakes, rivers and cities. I would quickly become lost. The Polish pilot, F/Sgt. Beda, who became my friend, taught me how to map read successfully during one three legged cross country flight. We flew in a Miles Magister (two cockpits) with me flying and map reading under F/Sgt. Beda’s direction. We flew at almost zero altitude. I am sure at one time between the fence posts of a farmers’ field. On the first leg I was lost most of the time. The second leg was from Odiham to Churchstanton and I knew where I was most of the time. The third leg home was completed without F/Sgt. Beda’s assistance. I had learned how to map read.
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